Closing the Cleft

So there are a couple ways that you can minimize your babes cleft before surgery. One way they close the cleft lip is taping. Taping your child is probably the easiest thing you will need to do to get your child getting ready for surgery. The tape we found worked the best for us was the Nexcare Flexible clear tape. It has a stong hold and is easy to rip in half to the sizing you need.

So to start you will need a long strip of tape. Rip it into 3 thinner pieces. Place your hand on your child mouth pushing there cleft lip together till it touched. place the tape over it so it will hold. I always added a extra piece of tape on the ends so it won't slip at the end of the day . Here is a good example of how it should look

NAM (Nasoalveolar Molding Device)

The NAM is used for both unilateral and bilateral cleft babes. The NAM looks like a big retainer that is placed in the roof of your babes mouth and held together using tape. The NAMs main focus is to move the palate closer together while also shaping the nose. The NAM is a very big commitment. As hard as it is to tape up your babes face and put in a annoying retainer in there mouth it is so worth it in the end. It is easy to remove and clean and if your baby can get used to it, it also improves on feedings. There are different styles of NAMs out there it just depends on the surgeon you have and the type of cleft your child has. Here is an example of one my daughter had.

First they will take a mold of your childs mouth to get a coustom NAM for your child. WARNING your child will hate this part but keep in mind it does not hurt them its just a clay they stick on the roof of there mouth and it just feels a little uncomfortable. After maybe 2 weeks later, they make the NAM. It Should look like a clear retainer with one or two prongs coming out the front so you can hook it with rubber bands to your child's face. 

*First tape your childs cleft lip together like normal.

* Then you will need two long skinny pieces of tape and two dental rubber bands. 

*Then place Rubber bands on the end of the tape and fold the ends together so it will hold the rubber bands

                                         

*Place NAM in childs mouth 

*Loop rubber bands around the ends on the NAM and pulling them tight and place on childs face.             

                                                                   

Later they will probably add a nose shaper to improve breathing and get the nose to the right shape it needs to be for surgery.